Zucchini for the win!

Tonight we're having Mr. and Mrs. Coach S over for dinner. I have never met them before, so I'm just going with foods that I think most people love. They are bringing dessert, so I only have to worry about dinner... ha!

As I said in the last blog post, the menu includes garlic oven potatoes, BBQ ribs and a mystery veggie to round it out. I think we're going to go with zucchini. Not only do my in-laws have a bumper crop of them that they shared with everyone, but they taste great and they are good for you!

Zucchini is a versatile summer squash that can be baked, grilled, eaten raw, fried, and... made into tots! Thanks to my kitchen crush, blogger Gina Homolka over at Skinnytaste.com, I found a great new way to eat zucchini. Zucchini tots are savory and great as a side dish or a snack.

I followed Gina's recipe pretty closely. The only thing that I changed was that I used a regular muffin tin instead of mini one. This was purely done on accident. However, it does change the serving size. Instead of 4 tots as a serving, you would probably only need 2 of the ones I made.

You can find the recipe for Zucchini Tots here. Definitely take a look at her pictures since I did not take a picture while squeezing the excess liquid out of the grated zucchini. Instead, I was making a slight mess in the sink...

Ingredients (again, go to Gina's website for more information and her amazing food photos):

• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray

Here we go:
Once you've preheated the oven to 400 degrees, you need to grate your zucchini. I used a food processor instead for a couple of reasons:
1. We got it as a shower gift and I've been dying to use it.
2. I broke my old grater and no one gave us a new one for a wedding gift.
3. My mom, another kitchen crush, said that a food processor would totally work instead.
4. I could add the onion right away and not have to smell like onion for the rest of the night.

This is what the chopped zucchini looks like before I squeezed out all the extra juice.

Mix the zucchini and onion in with the other ingredients.

Here is what it looks like in a regular size muffin tin.
Make sure that you press them down firmly.

This is the delicious result!

For more amazing healthy recipes, visit Skinnytaste.com because Gina is one amazing cook and food photographer!